Internal-combustion engine



E. VAUGHAN March 24, 1925. 1.530,864

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed April l1, 1925 Patented Mar. 24, 1925 Urrea STATES PATENT fissati Y rrr ELBERT VAUGHAN, or ronfrnnnn, caisson.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTO ENGINE.

Application filed April 11, 1923. Serial' No. 631,390.

To all whom it may concern.' 5

Be it known that I, Ennnn'r VAUGHAN, a

citizen ot the United States,` and a resident suction stroke does not draw a sucient charge of combustible mixture into the cylinder` to completely fill the vacuum caused by the displacement of the piston. vHence when the piston passes the point of reciprocation and starts its compression stroke it does not act against a cylinder-full of com# bustible mixture at atmospheric pressure and therefore a maximum amount of compression' relatively to piston displacement is not obtained.

'ihe object of my invention is to provide an internal combustion engine with means :tor assuring the maximum compression of the piston at the time of the firing without varying the proportions of said mixture, and without increasing the charge of combustible mixture.

l attain my object by combining with the cylinder, an auxiliary chamber having a port which communicates only with the cylinder, at a point slightly above the lowest point of reciprocation of the piston. This: chamberl becomes filled with the products of combustion on the power stroke of the piston, which is entrapped by the piston on its exhausting stroke and which is released, by the uncovering of vthe communicating port by the succeeding' suction stroke of the piston. Hence the products of combustion which are entrapped in said auxiliary chamber when released by the opening of said port, during the suction stroke of the piston will be projected into the cylinder and commingle with the combustible mixture drawn into the latter and tend to relieve any vacuum there` in; and then upon the ensuing compression stroke oi the piston a maximum compres sion ofthe combustible mixture is assured.

Preferably the walls ci said auxiliary chamber are. made of substantial thickness and enclose a space directly about and ex` tending alongside ofthe cylinder. Y

`The details of construction of these and other features are illustrated in the accoinpanying drawings, in which: f Y

l? ig. l is a diagrammatic longitudinal secn tion thru the cylinder embodying my invention; and

Fig- 2 is a section taken onthe line 2,2 of Fig. l, thru theA auxiliary pocket and its communicating ports.

My invention is adaptable i'or .use in an internal combustion engine, preferably of the Yfouncyoled type. The tour strokes of an vengine of this type in succession are, suction, compression, power and exhaust, which com# plete]l each cycle.

yInternal combustion originesv are made `with a cylinder a, whichis usually cooled by a water jacketb. A piston c reciprocates in the cylinder and is connected to the driven means by a connection rod d. The piston is made with a plurality of piston rings c near its head which serve to prevent the intense pressure ci the explosion within the cylinder from leaking by the piston.

The piston is made with an elongated skirt f which has an enlarged portion f at thel bottom. vrlhis enlarged portion is grooved and an auxiliary piston ring g is inserted therein. The auxiliary chamber h, which I combine with the cylinder, is arranged alongside ot the cylinder and ,communicates only with the cylinder by a port t'. ln the accompanying drawings, li have shown two guiding pieces e" which serve to `prevent the piston from catching on the edge of the port. The piston ring g at the bottom of the skirt ot the piston c is arranged so that it will always ybe between the port ,i and the bottom of the cylinder and thus prevent gases entrapped in the auxiliary chamber it `from escaping out from the j bottonil a of the cylinder. is shown, the auxiliary chamber has no connection except thru the port/i and thus is merely a pocket in which gases from the cylinder may be eutrapped. The cylinderI is provided with an opening j in kthe head in which a spark plug may be positioned and passage ways as bare arranged to permit the inlet and outlet oi the charge of combustion mixture to and from the cylinder.

At the beginning oit the suctionstroke oi? the engine the piston is at its uppermost point in the cylinder as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. Tt is then forced downward in the cylinder and as it moves downward it creates a region of diminished pressure in the cylinder directly above the head.. This causes the combustible mixture to be drawn into the cylinder so Aas to equalize the pressure therein and the atmosphere without. lt continues to flow into the cylinder as the piston moves downward. It ca readily be seen that as the engine speeds up this downward movement of the'piston will not draw in a chargeof combustible mixture suicient to equalize the pressure in the cylinder and atmospheric pressure without, and therefore as the piston passes the lower point of reciprocation as shown in full lines in Fig'. l it will not have drawn into the cylinder a full charge of combustible mixture. Thuswhen it moves upward it will not act against a cylinder full of fuel charge and thus the compression in the cylinder will not reach the maximum. As the compression attained in the engine is a deciding factor in the eiiicient combustion of this mixture it is' desirable that the cylinder be filled completely. 'The introduction of an auxiliary charge of combustible mixture or of fresh air will cause the proportions of the mixture to be varied. ln a throttling type motor this is objectionable because it is difficult to regulate the speed of theengine due to this cha-nge. T have discovered that if gases are introduced to the cylinder which have been thoroly burned and contain no combustible matter, they will merely serve as so much mass but will not combine with the fuel charge. Thus, for example, if the cylinder were filled half full of the combustible mixture and the other half of the products of complete combustion, the resulting value of the fuel charge would not be increased except in so far as the compressing of the mixture -would increase the pressure at which the charge was rfired.

In my invent-ion l have introduced this gas by providing an auxiliary pocket h and thuswhen the piston is forced downward due to the firing of the compressed combustible mixture the intense pressure created by this combustion will force this piston downwardly until it passes the port z'. expansion of the gases will then have com` pleted substantially all of their work and the pressure within the cylinder will force part of the products of combustion into the auxiliary chamber 7L. The exhaust'port is then opened and the pieten moves upwardly and forces the gases out thru the auxiliary port. The piston in moving upward, however, covers the port c' and traps a certain percentage of the gas in this chamber, under pressure. The gas entrapped can not escape because the piston is provided with a piston ring at the lower portion of its skirt and The also has a number of piston rings in the head of the piston. The first stroke of the succeeding cycle will cause a fresh fuel charge to be drawn in and as the piston movesdownwardly it will uncover the port z' and permit the products of combustion under pressuregto escape into the cylinder. This will equalize the partial vacuum created therein and thus as the piston moves upward itacts against a cylinder full of a mixture of fuel charge and burned gases and thus the compression is raised without varying the proportion' of hydrocarbon and oxygen in the mixture. The sizeof the auxiliary chamber is determinedl by the size of the cylinder and is arranged so that the chamber will' containa suficient amount of gas so as to equalizethe partial vacuum createdby the piston on its suction stroke.

l. Aninternal combustion engine of the character described,"comprising a cylinder and a ypiston reciprocating therein, lan auxiliary chamber for receiving part of the heated gaseous products of combustion, said chamber 'having a valveless port which commun'icates with said cylinderonly, such port being so located as to be covered and uncovered by the piston at the end of its working stroke, whereby heated spent gas is trapped during the exhaust stroke and reintroduced upon the succeeding intake strokeV to heat andadd mass to the fuel mixture.

2. An internal combustion engine ofthe character' described, comprising a cylinder and a. piston reciprocating therein, an auxiliary chamber for receiving part of the gaseous products of combustion, said chamber having a valveless port which communicates with said cylinder only, such portJ being so located as' to be uncovered when he` piston is at the end of its working stroke,the walls lof said 'cylinder encompassing said auxiliary chamber, to maintain the same in a heated condition.

3.k An internal combustion engine of the character described, comprising a cylinderopen-at one end and a piston reciprocating therein, an auxiliary chamber for receiving part of the gaseous products of combustion, said chamber having a -valveless port which communicates withsaid cylinder only, such port being so locatedl as to be uncovered when` thepiston is at the end of its working stroke, said piston provided with a skirt portion having a sealing medium thereon, saidsealing medium being arranged to lie between said port and the open end of said cylinder, whereby the gases entrapped in said auxiliary pocket are prevented from passing by said piston.

d. An internal combustion engine of the character. described, comprising a cylinder and a piston reciprocating therein, an auxiliary chamber for receiving part ofA the gaseous products of combustion, said thereof in a heated Condition,y said piston n chamber having a valveless port which cornprovided with a piston ring and a skirt Inunoates with said cylinder only, such port portion, Wheeby the gases entrapped in Said 10 being so loca-ted as to be uncovered when the auxiliary pocketl are prevented from passing 5 piston is atthe end of its Working stroke, by said pison.'V

the Walls of said cylinder` encompassing said i i i auxiliary chamber to maintain the Walls ELBERT VAUGHAN. 

